Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

Last week was long and busy and in more than one sense, counter-productive. Domaining is not a science and yet, it appears to require more energy than being creative and artistic.

What a better way to flush out all negativity and non-constructive thinking than take a mini vacation to Asheville, North Carolina.

Flying to Greenville, South Carolina was a smooth sixty minutes, then driving up to Asheville for another hour through the rising elevation of the Carolina mountains.

The brown colors of the trees blended beautifully into the yellow, orange and red of the leaves, creating a powerful palette that sends waves into the mind. The temperature, ranging from the low 50′s to the upper 60′s was perfect for walking on trails with nature’s sounds prominent; birds, furry animals and waterfalls; the air cool and fresh felt like 100% pure oxygen.

What a miracle: the eyes, the mind, the soul – refreshed all in one go.

Nothing there existed to remind me of domains or web development, nothing related to the mechanical chains that sap away so much energy on a daily basis. Just my camera to capture the moment that I will then share with friends and loved ones, to remind myself that life is short and nature’s art goes a long way.

But if you still want to see a domainer’s post, visit Biltmore.com to view the largest home in America, a tour that requires at least 3 hours to complete, visit the humane, never-sleeping city of Asheville and drown yourself into the natural palette of North Carolina’s fall.

When someone is in dire straights I’m eager to help; not simply driven by the good Samaritan doctrine but by my own set of ethics.

It’s what defines me as a person: to do the right thing.

As I explained through DomainGang, the domain name AV.net was recovered in September after several months of investigation and wrestling with the Registry.

Today, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a box of Napa Valley wine from the lawful owner of the domain whom I assisted with its recovery. The gift was sent through Wine.com - the ultimate wine-related domain and a globally acclaimed keyword.

The sender’s gesture is very much appreciated and it feels fantastic knowing that in the process I both helped a stranger and made a friend.

I raise my glass of Silver Oak Merlot to a toast, greeting all good people out there: keep fighting the good fight in life.

TGIF!

With Amazon unveiling yet another digital device, the Kindle Fire, I took a break to ponder where are we headed with all this.

Cheaper, but not better than the Apple iPad, the Kindle Fire is a tablet aimed at the “reading crowd“.

I’m not sure what that means, exactly.

I’m a reader, and as such I’m more specifically a book reader. Book reading is becoming a lost art and pleasure, that battery-operated gizmos attempt to steal and imitate.

I read my books on good old-fashioned printed paper; some say the Amazon forests are thus slowly chopped away. What a load of bullshit.

When millions of obsolete iPads and Kindle Fires are dumped along with other digital trash two years from now, the deadly chemicals released into the soil polluting the water horizon and the crops, or fumigated into the air we breathe will be far more devastating than the tree loss alleged by the pushers of those devices.

Sorry Jeff Bezos, your “reading crowd” will not include me.

“Organized as a Greek”. This is an oxymoron; for I know first hand that it applies to the majority of my compatriots, who expect to deliver miracles at the last minute without any preparation whatsoever.

Let’s take for example the latest announcement by the Greek ministry of Education (and Religious Affairs, I should add): there are no funds to print school books on time, with classes starting next week. Printing is an offset process that requires freshly printed books to be delivered to every student of the compulsory 12 year education system (6 years of grade school plus 6 years of high school).

The problem lies in the process: every year, students waste their school books, by tossing, ripping or burning them. They don’t have to pay a single euro for them and aren’t penalized for not returning them.

My father, whom I’d describe as a bibliophile beyond any logical measure, would throw a fit if as much as a book’s page were to be bent; many times I faced his wrath when a book was placed open, face down on the desk.

I can’t imagine what he’d do or say if he saw me defacing my school books or burning them at the end of the school year, and yet I did both – back in the day. Teenagers belong to the same species as lemmings as far as behavioral copying is concerned.

So the Greek ministry of education won’t deliver books on time this year. And yet, the solution is right in their hands, having produced the full range of the educational books – all beautiful and informational, I must add – as Adobe PDF files. Any student can view, download *and* print the school books for free.

The link for the Greek digital school is in Greek only: http://digitalschool-4.minedu.gov.gr

For some reason, I’m having a late Friday epiphany, motivated by the comment of a domainer who commented on Rick Latona’s honorable gesture to return a stolen domain.

The article was posted on DomainGang.com exclusively today and it definitely showed how much the domain industry needs more positive exposure.

Commenting on that post, Vito wrote:

These positive domaining stories need 1000x more exposure! [...] Its always the Bob Parsons/Elephant Killing/Snap Schill Bidding/Privacy Peeking/Trademark Infringing/Cybersquatting domaining stories that seem to get the most coverage in our Industry, which is why we have such a bad image to others.

I absolutely agree.

This is the type of story that deserves national publicity, so that the mainstream media catch up with the domain times. It’s ridiculous witnessing the domain industry sitting comfortably on its laurels and expect the general public to understand, digest and process what is going on behind closed conference doors!

This is a crucial moment in time, as the economy appears ambivalent about its direction, and social anxiety about the future requires more money-making options. Domaining is a function that goes beyond “registering domains”; it involves several industries: marketing, research and development, sales, support.

Domaining is a dwarf with the genes of giant. If this sounds like an oxymoron it’s because us domainers have been fed the same “dwarf formula” from the bottle, for a long time.

It’s time to think outside the box and grow ourselves to our full, gigantic potential. Bring forth the good side of domaining!